Just another WordPress site

Month: September 2012

In my mind, it is still July. So it came as a huge surprise the other day when there was a whole section in the grocery store dedicated to Halloween candy. I tried to resist, I really did… but I was sucked in and ended up buying a bunch of peanut butter cups.

As I unwrapped 16 individually wrapped peanut butter cups, my inner environmentalist was crying a little bit. So. Much. Trash! I try to justify all of that waste by the fact that I buy my flour and sugars in bulk…and that these cookies are pretty delicious.

Peanut butter cookies are already pretty addictive on their own, but adding in the peanut butter cups adds a new texture and makes this a total game changer.

I packed some of these up in a little zip lock bag and headed off to the first UCLA home game of the season against Nebraska! After being raised a Trojan fan all my life, that was my first day where I rooted for UCLA, intentionally. Sorry Dad!

I’m a baker. I’m good with an oven and combinations of sugar, flour and butter.

You may not remember, but the purpose of this blog was to challenge myself in trying new recipes more regularly. So far, I think I’ve done a pretty amazing job at that. I’ve made countless different types of cupcakes and cookies. I’ve made things I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about, Chocolate Espresso French Macaroons, ah hem. Along the way I have found recipes that I have loved and hated, but I generally always had a finished product that resembled what the recipe described – until I tried to make candy.

I attempted making caramels around the same time last year and it would never turn out as it should. I would be left with a puddle of delicious caramel sauce, which was still eaten of course, but it was not the form of sugar that I was looking for.

I ended up going with it and making caramel sauce as little presents for some relatives back in Minnesota and some lucky friends, but in the back of my head I couldn’t help but feel a little defeated by this silly caramel recipe! I mean really, it’s just boiling sugar and water, what could I possibly be doing so wrong?

After giving myself a good six month break from the candy making idea, I revisited the stove with a brand new candy thermometer, a new recipe, and a positive attitude.

So I am here happily reporting my success in making caramels, in little chewy candyform.

Step 2: Boil sugar mixture. Don’t stir with any utensils! Just let it do it’s thing! Step 3: Carefully pour cream into sugar and stir. It will bubble up like crazy, don’t worry!

Step 4: Let it boil until the mixture comes to the soft ball stage, or about 247 degrees F.

Step 5: Immediately pour into prepared pan and let it set! After about 2 hours of setting, you’ll be able to cut the caramels up into squares and then wrap them up in wax paper.

In the end, this really was not all that difficult to make. I think it may have been an issue with my candy thermometer, or maybe I just wasn’t “ready” for candy making. Whatever the reason was, I’m confident in that you will be able to make this recipe just as easily as I did.